N.J. Gov. Phil Murphy was with senior aide at Hoboken bar prior to staffer’s COVID-19 diagnosis

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy was socializing with his senior aide at a Hoboken bar days before the staffer tested positive for COVID-19, a spokesperson said Thursday.

The governor and First Lady Tammy Murphy met up with Deputy Chief of Staff Mike Delamater, along with his communications director and his wife, at the Pilsener Haus & Biergarten Saturday night.

“The small gathering was outdoors and lasted for approximately an hour and fifteen minutes,” Murphy’s spokesperson Michael Zhadanovsky said. “Mr. Delamater joined at the end for less than 15 minutes and was not close to the Governor or First Lady for a sustained period of time.”

Delamater tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, prompting the governor to leave in the middle of an outdoor press conference at Camden County Community College.

In this photo taken from video provided by the New Jersey Governor's Office, Gov. Phil Murphy tells attendees at an event where he was speaking, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020 in Blackwood, N.J., that he must leave the event to quarantine after just finding out that he'd been in contact with someone who had tested positive for COVID-19. (HOGP/)

“I was just informed by my colleagues that I was in close proximity to someone on Saturday who has just tested positive,” Murphy said during the live-streamed event.

Murphy and his wife both tested negative Wednesday afternoon but said they would continue to quarantine through the weekend.

Senior adviser Dan Bryan tested positive after taking a virus test Wednesday but he was not at the Hoboken bar gathering, Murphy’s office said.

The governor’s team said they had begun contact tracing to flag anyone who may have come in contact with Delamater in recent days.